Can Mindfulness Be Catholic?

 

The Vatican II sect is pushing a new (and decidedly pagan/occult) practice; "Catholic Mindfulness." The dangers of this movement cannot be understated. Mindfulness, for those who may be unaware, is a pagan and occult practice that can open up the practitioner to demonic obsession/possession.  (Demonic obsession is demonic influence from outside of the obsessed person, as opposed to controlling the person's body in possession).

Those pushing this misnamed practice are not merely Vatican II sect clerics, but highly educated laymen who think mindfulness can be adapted to Catholicism. This post will show the inherent danger and occult nature of mindfulness, and how it cannot be "made Catholic." If you know anyone in the Vatican II sect who practices this alleged "Catholic Mindfulness," pass on this information to them, and hopefully they will stop. N.B. I have cultivated my information on mindfulness from many sources besides those explicitly mentioned. I give full attribution for the information to all those sources and take no credit except for condensing the information into a readable, terse post---Introibo

Mindfulness and Its Pagan Origin

Mindfulness is usually marketed, explicitly or implicitly, as the key to peace, happiness, and even  "Catholic" spiritual advancement. “Be present” or “Be in the moment” have become common unquestioned bits of folk wisdom. Online and print magazines almost never lack a blurb or an article having to do with being mindful. Insurance company materials promote mindfulness, pictures of it abound online, its on television programs, and whole companies exist based on it. As of January 2024 there are (literally) thousands of "mindfulness meditation" apps. 

According to one source:

Mindfulness is a word used to describe "the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us."...

But the road to mindfulness is, evidently, paved with gold. According to the Wall Street Journal story, the industry exceeds the millions -- and that the combination of "studio classes, workshops, books, online courses and apps ... is worth about $1.2 billion and growing."

(See blog.hubspot.com/marketing/million-dollar-mindfulness-meditation-apps?fbclid=IwAR3fGRrRCC6_9F7zCVY9nS-52814b4NLaagXrv9Lp1AAAowbQgJzLPJsOiE). 

Traditionalists can no longer afford the luxury of being uninformed about mindfulness meditation. As a result of most people seeing meditation merely as a form of relaxation, it has masked its true nature and sparked the interest of researchers who would ordinarily avoid the occult. Clinical psychologist Dr. Gordon Boals, who has taught at Princeton and Rutgers universities, points out:

Viewing meditation as a relaxation technique has had a number of consequences. One result has been to make meditation seem more familiar and acceptable to the Western public so that subjects are willing to learn and practice it and researchers and psychotherapists are interested in experimenting with it. Another outcome is that therapists have been able to find a variety of ways of using it as a therapeutic technique. If meditation is relaxation, it should serve as an antidote to anxiety. (See “Toward a Cognitive Reconceptualization of Meditation,” The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 10, no, 2, 1983, p. 146). 

Mindfulness is pagan, coming from Buddhism. Standard Buddhist texts claim that in our normal state of mind we misperceive and misun­derstand ourselves (our true nature) and our world (its true nature). The purpose of meditation is to correct these false perceptions and to replace them with a true perception of reality, which is mystically induced by the procedures involved. This is why all forms of mindfulness meditation involve the deliberate cultivation of altered states of consciousness. The "truth" according to Buddhism, is that there is no self, and the goal of the mindfulness is to "become One with the universe." 

Mindfulness, and other forms of Eastern meditation, teach you to observe your breath; this is done so that you eventually become conscious of the breath as something being done, not you doing it. You are to realize that observing the breath means that it is not you observing, but rather the “witness.” This “witness” is the Buddha nature/mind, which is the impersonal principle of existence and which is all that truly exists. Meditation is practiced to deconstruct the sense of one’s individual identity and self:

The state of awareness that we are practicing when we mediate is called the witnessing state or the witness. In a typical meditation practice, we sit still and focus our awareness on a single object, such as counting our breath or repeating a mantra. As soon as we become aware that our mind has wandered off in thought, we just notice that, and return our awareness to our focus object. When we do this, we are practicing being in witnessing awareness. In other words, we are practicing being the witnessing part of our mind watching the thinking part of our mind repeatedly get carried away in thought.

Remember we learned that “subject” is something I identify as me, and “object” is something I identify as not me. “Subject” is what’s on the inside of my face looking out, and “object” is everything on the outside of my face that my subjective self is looking at. In our average everyday waking state of consciousness, we experience our individual self – our body, thinking mind, and feelings – as subject. And we experience everyone and everything outside of our individual body and mind as objects.

When we meditate, we are practicing a shift in our awareness. We are practicing being the witness “watching” temporary thoughts come and go in our minds, and temporary feelings and sensations come and go in our bodies. In other words, we are temporarily making our entire individual self – our entire body and thinking mind – into an object in a larger witnessing awareness. When we do this, we are temporarily shifting our subjective sense of self – our identity – from our gross body and thinking mind to the Witness.

When we aren’t doing something like meditating – when we’re back in our everyday waking state of consciousness – it isn’t that the Witness is somehow gone. Witnessing awareness is always present, but since we identify only with the thinking part of our mind as our “self,” we don’t usually notice that the Witness is there, or experience it as our “self.”

(See integralhealthresources.com/integral-health-2/the-four-quadrants/the-witness). 

The basic worldview of the East is pantheism, the belief that in some sense all of reality is ultimately One and Divine. In bringing their false religions to the West, many people adopt another (yet similar) worldview known as panentheism (the belief that God is "in" all things). Panentheism recognizes God and the world as distinct concepts, but then holds that God is the spirit or "divine energy" or "mind" that fills and pervades and expresses itself in the world. On this view God and the world are interdependent, needing each other to form a complete reality. Thus the standard analogy for panentheism is the idea that a human being is both a spirit (or mind) and a body, with neither doing anything without the other. God is not a personal Creator of the world, but the divine potential of the world and of each one of us. Most people in Western culture could not clearly distinguish pantheism from panentheism, and in most contexts the difference is of little practical significance. Pantheism and its related errors were infallibly condemned by the Vatican Council of 1870. 

The goal of the mindfulness practitioner is to unify himself/herself with the "Divine-self" or "God-Self." Through mindfulness, the person tries to lose contact with the conscious mind for an altered state of consciousness (ASC). This disassociation is meant to allow a person to become "one" with "the Divine." Even those who do not get to such altered states, have unwittingly opened themselves up to a decidedly pagan worldview and possible demon possession. The idea of being "divine" is the opposite of Christianity which tells us we are sinners in need of Redemption by the God-Man Jesus Christ.

So how did an obviously pagan practice, used also by occultists to make contact with "the spirit world" become accepted by mainstream occupations and organizations? That question will be answered next.

Making Mindfulness Mainstream

The re-packaging of mindfulness was accomplished primarily through the work of two men, Thich Nhat Hanh (d. 2022), a Buddhist monk, and his disciple, Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn (b. 1944).

1. Thich Nhat Hanh, according to his website:

...was a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, revered throughout the world for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. His key teaching was that, through mindfulness, we can learn to live happily in the present moment—the only way to truly develop peace, both in one’s self and in the world. Thich Nhat Hanh published over 100 titles on meditation, mindfulness, and engaged Buddhism, as well as poems, children’s stories, and commentaries on ancient Buddhist texts. He sold over five million books in the United States alone...

Thich Nhat Hanh was a pioneer in bringing Buddhism to the West, founding eleven monasteries and dozens of practice centers in the United States, Asia, and Europe, as well as over 1,000 local mindfulness practice communities, known as ‘sanghas.’ He built a thriving community of over 600 monks and nuns worldwide, who, together with his tens of thousands of lay students, apply his teachings on mindfulness, peace-making, and community-building in schools, workplaces, businesses – and even prisons – throughout the world. (See thichnhathanhfoundation.org/thich-nhat-hanh; Emphasis mine). 

He flourished thanks to Vatican II's damnable doctrine on "religious liberty." He wasted no time propagating religious indifferentism. In his best-selling book, Living Buddha, Living Christ (1995), Thich Nhat Hanh pronounces that “when you believe, for example, that yours is the only way for humankind, millions of people might be killed because of that idea” (pp. 92-93). He also claims that if we believe that Christianity alone provides the way of salvation “this attitude excludes dialogue and fosters religious intolerance and discrimination.” (pg. 193).

He wrote, “I do not think there is that much difference between Christians and Buddhists. Most of the boundaries we have created between our two traditions are artificial. Truth has no boundaries” (pg. 154). Although Hanh does not offer a comprehensive theory concerning the unity of all religions, he attempts to show that Jesus’ and Buddha’s teachings agree and that “when you are a truly happy Christian, you are also a Buddhist. And vice versa” (pg. 197).  

In attempting to show the blasphemous "spiritual brotherhood" of Jesus and Buddha, Hanh explains that the Christian practice of Holy Communion is really an exercise in “mindfulness” (!) By this he means the Buddhist practice of reflecting on the interconnection of all things or what he calls “interbeing.” Everything is a part of something else, and nothing stands alone. So Hanh tells us that “the miracle happens…because we eat and drink in mindfulness….If we allow ourselves to touch our bread deeply, we become reborn, because our bread is life itself. Eating it deeply, we touch the sun, the clouds, the earth, and everything in the cosmos. We touch life, we touch the kingdom of God” (pgs. 30-31).

2.  Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn was raised a non-practicing Jew. He became attracted to Buddhism and studied under Hahn, becoming a Buddhist himself. Kabat-Zinn's doctorate is in molecular biology. A practicing Buddhist  (sometimes he disavows he practices Buddhism) and board member of the Mind and Life Institute, an organization dedicated to “exploring the relationship of science and Buddhism as ways to better understand the nature of reality,” Kabat-Zinn always believed his "karmic assignment" (purpose in life) was to find a way to bring his dharma practice (Buddhist practice) together with his scientific pursuits to create "one unified whole."

While on a Buddhist retreat, he had a vision in which he “saw” a way to do this, through a program he would later call the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. This program was designed to be a patient-centered approach which could be used in hospital settings to treat persons with PTSD and other stress/anxiety disorders. However, with the core of the program being intensive training in mindfulness meditation, he knew these Buddhist roots would make many people nervous and so he “bent over backward” to find ways to employ the program without revealing its Buddhist underpinnings. 

The answer was to make it all about "stress reduction" and throw in scientific verbiage. There has been a great effort on the part of "alternative treatment practitioners" to emphasize stress in the culture, which then allows them to advocate their particular remedies for it. Mindfulness therapy is now extensively used in psychology and psychotherapy. However, Christian prayer and meditation is a definite non-starter, even though going to Church has been shown in a recent study to lower blood pressure (See nyulangone.org/news/the-wall-street-journal-new-study-shows-going-church-can-lower-blood-pressure). 

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kabat-Zinn stated:

“Mindfulness, the heart of Buddhist meditation, is at the core of being able to live life as if it really matters. It has nothing to do with Buddhism. It has to do with freedom,” Kabat-Zinn said in a telephone interview from Lexington, Mass. “Mindfulness is so powerful that the fact that it comes out of Buddhism is irrelevant..."

Kabat-Zinn is reluctant to use the word “spiritual” to describe the approach to healthy living that he promotes, characterizing it instead as being “grounded in common sense.”

“You don’t have to have a belief system or faith of one kind or another,” he said. “It’s not in conflict with faith. It’s about a profound connection with the universe … within a faith tradition or outside of any faith tradition..."

Kabat-Zinn says anything resembling religious vocabulary can be anathema to many people. He prefers to use a vocabulary that doesn’t exclude anybody.

“I don’t have to use the word ‘spiritual,’” he said. “Part of it is the power of silence and stillness. And part of that power is the power of healing that happens when you move from the domain of doing to being. It’s transformative..."

“It’s about people waking up, not being confined by any belief system,” he said. “Awareness is bigger than a belief system.” (See latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-oct-02-la-me-1002-beliefs-meditation-20101002-story.html; Emphasis mine). 

So mindfulness is "the heart of Buddhist meditation," yet "it has nothing to do with Buddhism" and the fact that it comes from Buddhism is "irrelevant." Got all that? The altered states of consciousness (ASCs) that mindfulness meditation typically develops, tend to result in a radically restructured, and false, view of self and society. Characteristically, one ends up thinking that the material universe is a dream or an illusion and that one’s true nature is one essence with God. This is, in principle, Buddhist teaching. 

Moreover, trance states and ASCs have been traditionally associated with the occult world, demonism, and other forms of spirit contact, such as shamanism, witchcraft, neo-paganism, magic ritual, Satanism, mediums, and yoga. Whether one is a short- or long- term practitioner, mindfulness meditation is designed to change one’s view of “self” and the world by altering one’s conscious­ness. This is opening oneself to demonic influence. 

Mindfulness and the Vatican II Sect

"Catholic Mindfulness" is pushed by members of the Vatican II sect, but none more prestigious than Dr. Greg Bottaro. According to his website:

Dr. Greg Bottaro is a Catholic psychologist, founder of the CatholicPsych Institute and developer of the CatholicPsych Model of Applied Personalism (CPMAP).Before he was married, he spent 4 years as a Franciscan Friar under the mentorship of Fr. Benedict Groeschel. He's now married with 7 kids under 10. (See catholicpsych.com/bio). 

Bottaro insists that mindfulness can be "Catholic." A blogger, Laura Eppen, also a Vatican II sect member, agrees:

Dr. Greg challenges a common misconception concerning practicing mindfulness as a faithful Catholic by comparing it to breathing or tea-drinking.  

“Mindfulness doesn’t lend itself to already needing to defend itself,” he explains, “People say we shouldn’t use that word, but actually the word mindfulness is not implicating an Eastern practice in itself anyway, any more than tea-drinking is... but if you're drinking tea as part of a Buddhist ceremony or a Hindu ceremony, then that’s something we would not want to do as Catholics. But we’re not going to say, ‘Well then, stop drinking tea.’” 

(See theyoungcatholicwoman.com/archivescollection/understanding-catholic-mindfulness-with-dr-greg-bottaro-part-1). Bottaro is correct that tea drinking is not inherently Buddhist. However, his protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, mindfulness, unlike tea, is inexorably tied to paganism/occultism.

Miss Eppen puts her finger on why mindfulness is considered Catholic---the heretical teachings of Vatican II:

 Perhaps the most common criticism of mindfulness is that it is a Buddhist or non-Christian practice and thus, not suitable for faithful Catholics. It’s helpful here to begin by understanding the Catholic Church’s stance on relating to other religions.

In 1965, Pope Paul VI wrote about this relationship in his Declaration on The Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra aetate): 

Likewise, other religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing “ways,” comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men.

It is fair and just to say that mindfulness falls under the category of a “good thing” since, although it has foundations in Buddhism, it is not an exclusive practice of Buddhism. (Ibid).

The false ecclesiology of Vatican II places a separation between "the Church of Christ" and the Catholic Church. They are no longer one and the same. The Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church in its fullness because it has all the "elements" of the Church of Christ. However, the Church of Christ subsists elsewhere, depending on how many "elements" of truth the sect has; to have all elements is best, but having only some is good too, and leads to salvation. Therefore, we can get "good elements" from something that has "foundations in Buddhism." 

Again, Miss Eppen:

When critically evaluating the usefulness of new schools of prayer or thought, Dr. Greg is adamant that understanding what exactly it is we are talking about is crucial for healthy dialogue and practice. He agrees with this definition of mindfulness from John Kabat-Zin, innovator of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): “[Mindfulness is] the awareness that arises from paying attention on purpose in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” Kabat-Zinn also encourages people to see that Buddhism doesn’t own mindfulness, just as Sir Isaac Newton doesn’t own gravity, simply because he identified it. Mindfulness as a concept and practice may have been identified elsewhere, but it has an integral place that fits in accordance with Catholic teaching, prayer, and the call to holiness. In fact, many saints have practiced mindfulness devoutly throughout their lives under different names. 

There are other schools of thought about prayer and meditation that share similarities to mindfulness practice, such as Brother Lawrence’s’ The Practice of the Presence of God and Fr. Jean-Pierre de Cassade’s Abandonment to Divine Providence. And when asked whether mindfulness is different, Dr. Greg states, “It’s not necessarily that it’s different. It’s just that I find those approaches to be a bit incomplete, where it's just the spiritual focus–and that's really important. But I would also say that Kabat-Zinn would be incomplete in that it’s only the psychological focus. So, the thing that’s kind of missing is the combination and the integration of both and that's what I'm trying to provide with The Mindful Catholic and with the program that I have.” (Ibid; Emphasis mine). 

Here, Bottaro agrees with the pagan definition of Kobat-Zinn, and pompously sees the spiritual classic of Fr. de Cassade as "incomplete." No saint has ever practiced the nonsense pushed by Bottaro. In mindfulness, the practitioner spends his time in meditation attempting to control his or her awareness, trying to maintain it upon either a single point, the rhythm of his breathing, or whatever is most prominent in his consciousness. You are even to remain nonjudgmental toward any thoughts and impulses that come to mind. Bottaro makes use of paying attention to breathing, etc. exactly like a pagan/occult practitioner. In Catholic meditation, you relinquish control to Almighty God, the opposite of mindfulness. This was taught by St. Teresa of Avila, who describes four distinct stages of prayer that the faithful Christian may experience in the course of one’s lifetime.

Bottaro is pushing occult/pagan mindfulness as "Catholic," and leading souls into danger. 

Conclusion

There is no such thing as "Catholic Mindfulness" anymore than there can be "Catholic Atheism." One excludes the other of necessity. Mindfulness leads to ASCs, the acceptance of a pantheistic worldview, and demonic activity. Occultist Laeh Garfield  who channels "spirit helpers," writes in Companion in Spirit: A Guide to Working with Your Spirit Helpers [1984], pg. 34, “[Mindfulness] Meditation simultaneously calms you down, uplifts you and sharpens your awareness, so that discarnate teachers can come through to you with the messages they con­vey.” (Emphasis mine).

 There is also evidence that such meditation can be bad for your mental health. (See verywellhealth.com/mindfulness-can-be-harmful-researchers-say-5186740).  Learn to pray from the spiritual masters, such as St. Ignatius of Loyola, or St. John of the Cross. Engage in "Catholic Mindfulness" at the risk of your mental health and endangering your soul.